A decentralized approach to training managers and hourly employees has many disadvantages for your organization. You lose control over the standardization of your training material as well as consistent training programs. Without a centralized approach to your training, employees and supervisors frequently find ways to skip the training completely and attempt to learn new skills and programs by themselves. Decentralization allows the individual instructor to take his own approach to training and some trainers will not make the extra effort to keep their training excellent.

Inconsistency

Decentralized training allows individual regions or divisions to handle training as they see fit. Some regional area managers endorse training and will spend the money and time to make certain all of their employees and mangers are adequately trained. Other regional managers do not believe in training and will not provide proper training for all of their employees. Some of your people will therefore be well-trained and others will receive little or no training. Your company will have a difficult time providing consistent service and quality products using this approach to training.

More Costly

A decentralized approach to training is almost always more costly for your organization. Cost savings are usually given to companies that need a large number of training products. Decentralization results in each area using its own training materials, usually at a higher cost per student. More trainers need to be trained to conduct your programs, instead of just one or two who are able to deliver your training to your entire company. Registration, evaluation and retraining costs are also higher when you use a decentralized approach to your training.

Instructor Quality

Another shortcoming of a decentralized approach is the quality of the instructor. When each division of your company has its own trainers, their training is not as consistent or thorough as that of a centralized training function. Trainers are frequently selected for their knowledge of the material that needs to be trained and not their training skills. Without a program to develop instructors, trainers are left on their own and frequently present material in a way that does not help trainees to learn best.

Legal Aspects

A decentralized training function could open your company up to legal issues. Required programs like safety and sexual harassment may not be trained according to legal requirements. Mandated courses and programs require attendance and completion of the course by every employee. Without centralized control of your training, many employees find excuses to not attend the training, which can be a legal liability for your company. Certain mandated courses require a very thorough approach to the training, and this is not always possible without a centralized lesson plan and consistent training program. Legal exposure increases with a decentralized training approach.

About the Author

Based in Bethlehem, Pa., Kermit Burley has been writing articles for over 30 years. His articles have appeared in "Training" magazine, as well as numerous company publications throughout the course of his career. Burley holds a Masters of Education in instructional design from Penn State and is certified as a trainer and instructional designer.